I am a 44 year old wife, mom and athlete. I started running in high school and have loved it ever since. As I got older, I had to stop running every day so I added in weight training and all sorts of fun work-outs like Insanity, P90X and Turbo Fire. I'm a certified personal trainer and I love all aspects of fitness.
Today I worked my entire body with the 44. I did a squat with a torso twist using a 10 pound dumbbell.
readydown & twist
I did 44 with a left twist and then I did another set of 44 twisting to the right.
side view for 2nd settwist right
Between lifting my arms overhead after each twist and the squats themselves – this move was a challenge!!!
This year is the first year for the Air Force Junior ROTC program at our high school.
Jordan decided to be in the program which, of course, makes us happy!!! Today was the first day that they have worn their uniforms.
thrilled with a picture at 6:15 amnow I have 2 men in uniform
Hard for me to think of Jordan as a man and not my little boy. Yes, he is taller than Chris!!! He will be 15 in a month – YIKES!!!
Thankfully, he still has plenty of boy left in him!!!
perfect example of boys
Umm…this is semi-normal!!!
And, if you are going to stand in a chair in the kitchen, why not just do your homework on top of the fridge?!
cause this makes sense!!
Some days it seems like my boys are growing up way to fast and then other days it seems just about perfect and they remind me that they are still boys!!!
Today for my 44 I did a single arm lateral raise with a leg lift while on a stability ball. (It’s not as complicated as it sounds!!)
readyright arm & left leg
After I finished 44 I had to switch arms and legs and repeat.
ready to goleft arm and right leg – lots of balance work!!
Garage boot camp started off chilly but we warmed up quickly with our Turbo workout!!!
So, nothing like waiting until the last minute to realize that I need some advice!!!
I don’t have a clue about how to approach the race that I’m doing this weekend. I know when packet pick-up and the race briefing are and that it starts at 6:00 pm Saturday night.
Drop bags –
Not a clue what the point of these is and since you can’t pick them back up till after 10:00 am on Sunday (16 hours after the start) and I’m hoping to be home in bed by then, I think I will just skip this step.
Fueling –
Still not a clue about what is going to work here!!! I’m just going back to my high school track days!!!
I prefer to run in the morning and I never eat before or during my runs so I sort of hate changing it up a lot.
Pacing – After a lot of trial and error with my training, I think I’m going to go with a 4:1 run/walk effort. As much as I would like to run the entire distance, I’m afraid if I don’t start off smart then I will have a repeat of my 44 miles!!!
My main plan is to just show up and run until I’m done – 50 miles!!!
Not sure how great my plan is so please share any tips, advice, hints, words of wisdom, experience or jokes that you have – all will be much appreciated!!!
Today I did 44 alternate leg extensions while in a V-sit. (Actually it was 88 because I counted a right extension and a left extension as 1 rep.)
start (sweat optional!)extend right legBack to startextend left leg
By the time I finished these, my abs were burning and I got a pretty good workout for my hip flexors!!!
And I did my final run before Saturday night!!!
After the overly personal post from yesterday (thanks for all of your incredibly kind words!!!), I thought today it would be nice just to have a fun post about my favorite state!!!
I’m pretty sure I’ve made no secret of the fact that even though we live in Kansas, I’m from TEXAS!!!
Here are some Texas facts that you may or may not have heard before:
1. Texas is home to 3 of the 10 largest cities in the United States. (6 of the top 20)
4 Houston
7 San Antonio
9 Dallas
11 Austin
16 Ft. Worth
19 El Paso
2. The Republic of Texas was an independent nation from 1836-1845.
3. Texas has more than 600 miles of coastline.
4. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco, TX in 1885. And, for the record, there is no period Dr.
5. You can eat at a different barbecue place every day of the year without visiting the same place twice!!
6. When Texas was annexed in 1845, it retained the right to fly its flag at the same height as the national flag.
7. Each year Amarillo hosts the World’s Largest Calf Fry Cook-Off. “Calf fries” are bull testicles. (I’ve never eaten these and have no plans to anytime soon!)
8. The Dallas State Fair Park is home to the largest Ferris wheel (the Texas Star) in the Western Hemisphere.
9. The highest temperature ever recorded in Texas was 120° F in Seymour on August 12, 1936. The lowest temperature ever recorded was -23° F at Tulia in 1899 and at Seminole on February 8, 1933.
10. The world’s largest (and oldest) rattlesnake roundup is held every March in Sweetwater, Texas.
I spent many summers in Sweetwater with my grandparents at the Girl Scout Camp where they were the Rangers. And, I have come across rattlesnakes on plenty of occasions!!!
11. The King Ranch in Texas is bigger than the state of Rhode Island.
12. The armadillo is the official state mammal.
13. More land is farmed in Texas than in any other state.
14. Beaumont to El Paso: 742 miles, Beaumont to Chicago: 770 miles. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas.
15. High school football is a way of life.
The movie is pretty close to the real deal. Fun fact – that movie was in my old stomping ground – the schools in the movie were all part of my high school district!!
You can tell that part of the problem was staying balanced!!! I struggled to get all 44 done and then I had to flip over and do another set of 44!!!
Last Sunday I wrote a post about how hard it is for me to ask for help. In that post I said “I don’t know why it’s so hard for me to ask for help.” That’s not really true – I do know why.
When you ask for help you open yourself up in a very vulnerable way. If the person that you ask to help you says NO it can be a major blow. And when the person you ask for help is someone that you trust will always support you, it is a double blow.
Here is why I have such a hard time asking for help – (warning: this post is more personal than my normal share!).
From the time I graduated high school (I was 17), I was self-suffiecient. I put myself through college and supported myself completely. In a few situations, I needed some help but was told NO when I finally asked. I made a decision after that to “go it on my own.”
1. I graduated from college in May at the age of 21. A couple months later I moved into a little efficiency (converted garage) apartment and spent a year working 3 jobs to try and make a little money. I did not have a microwave and asked my mom (she had just married Charles, my step-dad the week after I graduated and they had 2 of everything) if I could use one of theirs.
Her response – “NO. We want to keep them both.”
2. I applied to grad school (and got accepted) during that year. I was going to a school in southern Alabama. At the time, I had never driven out of Texas by myself.
Quite frankly, I didn’t even really know where Alabama was located. (Don’t judge – geography was never my thing!!)
I was making a quick trip (4 days total) out in July to check out the area and try to find a place to live. I asked my mom to go with me thinking that it would be a good chance for us to spend some time together and reconnect.
Her response – “NO. I don’t want to be away from Charles.”
3. After grad school, I worked as an assistant track coach at the University I had graduated from. I had lots of school loans and had made some poor choices with credit cards so I decided to get a consolidation loan and get rid of all my debt.
I needed a cosigner in order to qualify for the loan.
I asked my mom & Charles. Their response – “NO. It’s not a good idea.” (yet a few years later they co-signed a note for my sister)
So, maybe I should have handled some NOs differently but there just comes a point where it is easier to not ask then it is to hear yet another NO!!!
NO – we all say it every day but I’m not sure we always stop to think of the impact we might be making in someone’s life.
Today for my 44 I used my favorite piece of equipment –
BOSU
I put my head on the BOSU and did a single leg hip lift.
readylift
It’s a small lift (as you can tell) but very effective. My left hip was dying by the time I finished 44 and then I had to switch legs and repeat!!
readylift
I was definitely ready to be done with that second set!!! Funny that my shoes have reflective parts and they always show the flash!!!
I’ve decided that my posts will continue to start with my daily 44 because that really is the reason I started blogging (although it was for a daily 43!!).
But…..I am going to quit posting about the rest of my workouts every day. I know all y’all are probably thinking – FINALLY!!!
Don’t get to excited – there will still be some days that I talk about my run from the day or about a particular DVD I did. And some days I might be really excited about a new boot camp workout and feel the need to share it.
I just won’t be sharing all of my workouts every day – I have started transitioning away from that the past month or so but I’m ready to make the change.
And with that major announcement – I’m off early to clean our venue – Friday wedding and now a Saturday wedding mean I have to bust tail to get it turned around!!!
And, if you are going to stand in a chair in the kitchen, why not just do your homework on top of the fridge?!
